Community Corner

Middle School Renovation Budget Approved at $100 Million, Sent to Council for Referendum

Board of Education members Thursday approved a proposed master control budget of nearly $100 million and have sent a request to the Town Council seeking a referendum for the middle school renovation project.

Town residents may soon be asked to vote on a nearly $100 million referendum that would allow the Board of Education to proceed with a renovation project at both Kennedy and DePaolo middle schools.

After an hour and a half of discussions Thursday evening regarding preliminary specifications, board members voted unanimously to approve a $99.8 million proposed master control budget and educational specifications set forth by administrators and architects with Fletcher Thompson.

“This is still based on a conceptual design and it’s preliminary, but it would allow us to move forward into the physical design stage,” said Joseph G. Costa of Fletcher Thompson, the architectural firm hired to conduct the town’s middle school feasibility study and design the renovations.

The proposal would leave the town responsible for $49.9 million in costs, to be paid for through bonding – a request that requires a referendum under town charter – while the state would pick up the remaining costs through grant funding once the project is complete.

Board Chairman Brian Goralski said the project may be expensive, but with fiscal responsibility in mind it would essentially be a two-for-one deal, given that the state would front about half the cost.

Under the proposal, the schools would be completely renovated as new, said both Costa and Fletcher Thompson team member Matt Holst, with each built with approximately 141,000 square feet.

“We want the entrance to be recognizable to those who have been there before, so it would include the doors being moved in a manner which is familiar to visitors,” said Holst.

Other notable specifications include the installation of six computers in each classroom, laptops instead of desktops for teachers, and air conditioning within the building, according to School Superintendent Joseph V. Erardi Jr.

The conceptual design is about 11,000 square feet larger than the allowed amount for a full 55 percent reimbursement from the state, and is based on a 10-year high projection of 811 students at each school, the projected number supplied by the New England School Development Council. That mark would be met during the 2013-14 school year.

Projections have been below actual school populations in recent years, however, and if the trend continues, the town could be in line for additional reimbursements.

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The board also discussed briefly Thursday whether it would be advantageous to move sixth-grade students to each of the town’s elementary schools to alleviate overlap issues during construction. Erardi said principals from each school have already presented proposals showing such a move could be accommodated.

The project will now be presented before the Town Council on May 23, with councilors expected to vote on whether to send the project to referendum.


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